Evaporative refrigerator.



w. F. MITCHELL. EVAPORATIVE"REFRIGERATOR.

APPHCATION FILED SEPT. 22, I914.

Patented Mar. 7,1916.

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. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1914. 1,174,082,

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WILLIAM F. MITCHELL, 0F SALT'LAKE CITY, UTAH.

nvaronarivn REFRIGERATOR.

To all whom it may concern:

I Be it known that I, WILLIAM F.MITCHELL, citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Evaporative Refrigerators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in refrigerators and particularly to improvements in devices for producing proper refrigeration and cooling without the employment of ice, the object of my invention being the provision of a refrigerator Which is kept cool by the evaporation of water or other liquid from an absorbent covering.

A further object of my invention is the provision of means for insuring a constant circulation of air through the refrigerator itself to assist in the cooling thereof and also to provide for ventilation. thus permitting the storing of foods of different flavors without contamination of one by another.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator having an inner and outer bodyso constructed that, if desired, the inner body may be quickly removed and the outer body alone employed. And a still further object of my invention is to provide means for regulating the flow of water or other liquid through the absorbent covering of the body of the refrigerator to control the degree to which the refrigerator shall be cooled. i With these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed out in the claims which are attached to'and form apart of this application.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved refrigerator, showing the parts disconnected; Fig. 2 is a central vertical section; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3--3'0f Fig. 2.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

The preferred embodiment of my'invention includes a base 10, outer body member 11, inner body member 12, drip pan 13 and cover 1 1. The base 10 is provided with supporting-feet 15 and with an upwardly dirested marginal flange 16. -rThe-baseis fun- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. '7, 1916.

Application filed September 22 1914. Serial No. 863,035.

ther provided with an upstanding flange 17 formed internally of the marginal flange and in spaced relation thereto toprovide an endless trough, for a reason which will be hereinafter apparent. That portion of the base within the'inner flange 17 is provided with a plurality of ventilating openings 18. The entire base is preferably constructed of sheet metal suitably enameled, japanned, plated or otherwise treated to protect it from rust or corrosion. It may be rectangular, circular, or any other shape, as preferred, it being apparent, however, that the shape of the base controls the shape of the entire refrigerator.

The inner and outer body members 11 and 12 are tubular, corresponding in cross sectional shape to the shape of the base and open at both their upper and lower ends,

being preferably formed of the same material as the base. As best shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the inner body member 12 isproportioned to fit snugly within the flange 17 ofthe base, while the outer body member is proportioned to seat upon the base between the flanges 16 and 17 and spaced from both. The outer and inner body members are provided with hinged doors 19 and .20, respectively, ofany preferredtype by which access may be had to both the outer and inner body members, these doors being formed in alinement with each other.

The outer body member is providedwith an outer covering 21 of felt or other suitable absorbent material and is provided in ternally at its corners with blocks 22 or other suitabledevices upon which foraminous shelves 23 may be supported when the refrigerator is'used without the inner'body member. The" inner body member is provided at its corners in like manner with blocks 24 to support foraminous shelves 25 upon which the food holding receptacles may be placed when the refrigerator is'employed with the inner body member in place, it of course being apparent that under such conditions the shelves 23 are not employed.

The outer and inner body members are 'of the same height and the drip pan 13 pan includes a bottom 26 and an upstanding marginal flange 27 the free edge of which? is preferably inturnednas at ..28 :to

give it a finished appearance. This flange is surrounded or covered upon its outer face with a, strip or strips 29 of felt or other absorbent material, the lower edges of which rest upon the upper edges of the absorbent covering 21 of the outer body member when the drip pan is in place and the upper edges of which extend somewhat above the flange 27. This strip or these strips are held in place by strips of sheet metal 30 substantially equal in length to the side and end portions of the flange 27 and secured thereto by a plurality of stove bolts 31 having nuts 32, these bolts being passed through the strips 30, felt 29 and flange 27. The strips 30, as best shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, extend by their lower edge somewhat below the bottom of the pan 26 to engage about the upper edge portion of the outer body member and hold the pan against lateral displacement therefrom, the lower edges of said strips being rebent outwardly as at 33 to prevent injury to the absorbent covering of the outer body member. The strips 30 extend at their upper edges considerably above the level of the flange 27 and said upper edges are inturned as at 34 to give a finished appearance to the pan as a whole and also to form an enlarged bearing surface for the cover 14.

The bottom 26 of the drip pan is provided with a plurality of openings 35 and each of these openings is surrounded by an upwardly directed tubular member 36 which is substantially frusto-conical in shape tapering from its lower to its upper end and terminating at its upper end somewhat be low the level of the strips 30. These tubular members are secured to the bottom of the pan in such a manner as to avoid all leakage of water from the pan through the openings 35 and of course co-act with the ventilating openings 18 to provide a draft through the refrigerator. noted at this point that certain of the openings 35. occur in that part of the bottom of the drip pan 26 forming a closure for the chamber formed between the outer and inner body members.

The cover 14 may be of any desired form, being provided with ventilating openings 37' and with a handle 38. The cover is preferably provided with a depending flange 39; adapted to seat closely within the upper edge of the drip pan to prevent lateral displacement of the cover. Water may be supplied to the drip. pan from any suitable source through a pipe or hose leading into the drip pan throughone of the openings 37 in the cover or in any other suitable way, the manner of supplying water to the drip pan forming no part of my present invention. The base 10 of the refrigerator is provided with a drain cocklO by means .of

It should bev which water may be drained from the trough formed between the flanges 16 and 17.

In employing my improved refrigerator, the same may be set up in the manner shown in Fig. 2 with the inner body member in place and the shelves 25 positioned therein or it may be used without the inner body member in which case the shelves 23 will be positioned within the outer body member. lVater is admitted to the drip pan in any suitable manner, care being taken that the flow of water shall not be so rapid as to cause overflowing of the pan. The water in the pan, after it rises above'the level of the flange 27, will saturate the strip or strips of felt or other absorbent material 29 and from these strips will pass to the absorbent covering 21 of the outer body member, saturating said covering. The water will evaporate from this covering, due to exposure to the airand this evaporation of the water will efl'ectually cool the refrigerator.

By adjustment of the nuts 32 upon the bolts 31, the strips 29 of felt may be clamped more or less closely between the flange 27 and the pan strips 30 and the flow of water to the covering of the outer body member readily controlled. This adjustment should preferably be such that, although the covering of the outer body member shall be saturated with water, but little water will drip into the trough between the flanges 16 and 17 of the refrigerator base. Air will pass into the refrigerator through the ventilating openings 18 in the base and through the inner body member and openings 35 to the space between the water level of the drip pan and the cover and then out through the openings 37 in the cover, thus insuring a thorough circulation of air through the inner body member of the refrigerator. \Vhen the inner body member is not employed, it will of course be apparent that the entire refrigerator will be ventilated by this air circulation.

From the foregoing description, it will be clear that with a refrigerator constructed in accordance with my invention no ice need be employed. It will further be clear that inasmuch as all parts of the refrigerator are readily separable from each other, the entire refrigerator may be easily cleaned and cared for. The gravity percolation or feed of the water from the drip pan to the absorbentcovering of the refrigerator permits regulation to insure uniform cooling of the contents of the refrigerator.

Having thus described the invention, what is, claimed as new is;

1. A refrigerator including a base having spaced upstanding flanges providing an endless trough, that portion of the base inclosed within the inner flange having ventilating openings, sinner and outer tubular body members supported upon the base, the inner body member seating within the inner flange and the outer body member within the trough, an absorbent covering for the outer body member, a drip .pan forming a closure for the upper ends of both body,

closure for the upper end of the body mem-' ber and provided with ventilating openings in its bottom, tubular members surrounding the openings of the drip pan and extending above the upper edges of the pan to permit the passage of air from the body member and to prevent the passage of liquid from the drip pan into the body member through the ventilating openings of the drip pan, an absorbent covering for the body member, absorbent strips secured on the pan with their upper edges in the pan and their lower edges bearing against said covering for supplying liquid from the drip pan to the covering, binding strips secured over the absorbent strips and having their lower ends engaged around the body member, and a cover supported by the upperends of said strips above the pan.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM F. MITCHELL. Witnesses:

LUCILE EVANS, MATHOMHAT THOMAS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

